Missing Easton man's parents ask why his body wasn't found earlier

Friday

EASTON - When Helen Glavin's son, Gregory Glavin, didn't call her or text her while she was on vacation, she knew something was wrong.

Twenty-four hours later, she knew he was missing. Forty-eight hours later, she knew she may never see her son again.

"Greg was a mama's boy," Helen Glavin said. "We talked all the time, multiple times a day. He would tell me everything ... everything. We were very very close."

After he was missing for more than six weeks, Gregory Glavin's body and his moped were found Thursday, partially hidden under a camouflage tarp at Wright Farm, less than a half-mile from his Easton home.

It was the same area in which police had conducted a massive search for Glavin just five weeks ago.

With this in mind, over the past day Helen Glavin has been asking the same question.

When security footage from a nearby home showed Glavin entering Wright Farm that day, police mounted a massive search later in February. A helicopter flew overhead, a team of hikers took to the trails, and K-9s, dirt bikes and ATVs searched the area. But they found no sign of Glavin, police said.

"The area where the body and moped were eventually discovered was heavily wooded and in a lower elevation area, not visible from any walking trails," Deputy Polie Chief Keith Boone said. "Due to the lower elevation and camouflage tarp, I believe that is why they went undetected in prior searches, especially seeing as a MSP helicopter conducted aerial search."

Police said they had conducted searches on Feb. 22, 23 and 27.

After Feb. 27, police said there was no new evidence and suspended the search, but Glavin's parents did not give up.

They looked online for a team that could help with the search, which is when they found the Massachusetts Rescue and Recovery K-9 unit, also known as MARK9.

"MARK9 is a charitable, nonprofit 501(c)(3) volunteer search and rescue unit dedicated to the training of search and rescue dogs, handlers and support personnel in order to provide professional and highly-skilled search and rescue resources in the event of an emergency response event," according to its website.

The unit agreed to search Wright Farm and Wheaton Farm Thursday. The team, made up of three dogs and about 10 people, began searching about 10 a.m., Helen Glavin said,

"They found him in less than three hours," Helen Glavin said.

Glavin and his moped where partially under the tarp, which Helen Glavin said they were unsure where the tarp had came from and had not seen it there before Glavin's disappearance.

Police said foul play is not suspected.

Helen Glavin said she and her husband are sad about the news of their son and frustrated that the discovery was so close to home.

"I felt in my heart that he was out there in the woods," Helen said. "I knew he had to be there."